Tuesday, December 12, 2017

50 Cent

Tonight I have a manipulated caricature of rapper 50 Cent. The guy gas brutal features, so there were a few different ways I could have taken this one. I came very close to scrapping this one. Nothing seemed to be going right, then I zoomed back to a small thumbnail and I saw what my problem was and was able to correct it. So there's a lesson there. Don't get caught up in the details in the early stages. Take a step back and look at the whole thing. There's plenty of time for details in the end. Not to say this is a flawless caricature. It's far from it and I learned a lot from this one so I'm sure I could do a much better job the second time around. Well, it is what it is. I've posted the original source images below for comparison. I kind of blended the two.

Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, businessman, and investor. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of the borough of Queens, Jackson began selling drugs at age twelve during the 1980s crack epidemic. He later began pursuing a musical career and in 2000 he produced Power of the Dollar for Columbia Records, but days before the planned release he was shot nine times and the album was never released. In 2002, after Jackson released the compilation album Guess Who's Back?, he was discovered by Eminem and signed by Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records.

Monday, December 11, 2017

Truce Already

Here's a silly illustration I finished this weekend after our first snow in a long time. I had lots of time on my hands and had been fooling round this this for a while so I decided I needed to get it finished so I can move on to other things. It's called Truce Already. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un have been at it for a while. Maybe I should have called it "Little Rocket Man and Mr Diplomacy". Come on guys... can't we all just get along? Well, I'm off to the gym and I'll be getting started on something more serious when I get back. OK, maybe not so serious but different.

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Firoze Shakir - Artist Feature

Todays post serves two purposes, one to show you my latest caricature but more importantly I would like to introduce to you a dear friend of mine, Firoze Shakir. We first crossed paths on Google+ and soon after connected on other social media platforms. Firoze first captured my attention with his sometimes humorous and sometimes very thoughtful poetry that he used to comment on my images. The comments were always welcome and entertaining, from simple rhymes to complex pieces of poetry. I soon learned just what kind of man this was commenting on all of my posts. This is one of the most humble men I know. So humble in fact that I couldn't get him to write a bio so I'm taking a jab at it. Firoze is a very talented street photographer, photojournalist and street poet in Mumbai, India. Firoze is a man of peace, promoting all religions and faiths. Though we live worlds apart, he has become a very close friend of mine always cheering me on and complimenting on my work. He sees through all religious, racial and geographic barriers. He is a man of true character and I'm glad to call him my friend.

He dedicates his life to shooting street photography but not like you might think. No pretty cityscapes or flowery vacation brochure type images. His subjects are the poor, the hungry, the sick and the lost. It’s his daily ritual to walk around different neighborhoods of Mubai and around India to capture life as it happens. He presents the raw realities of living in the slums of India like no other. You won’t find any touristy pictures on his site, only the forgotten people of India and their everyday struggle to survive. Having overcome many hurdles of his own, he uses his photography and art as medicine for the soul. His camera of choice is Cannon.

Obviously the image above is my friend Firoze Shakir. Below, you'll find the source image and some samples of his work but I want to provide you with links to his work, blog and social media. Be sure and check out these links.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Audrey Hepburn Caricature 2017

This is a caricature study of Audrey Hepburn that I reworked and added some color the original source image was an old black and white. Audrey Hepburn, 1929 - 1993 was a British actress, model, dancer and humanitarian. Recognized as a film and fashion icon, Hepburn was active during Hollywood's Golden Age. She was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend in Golden Age Hollywood and was inducted into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. Born in Ixelles, a district of Brussels, Hepburn spent her childhood between Belgium, England and the Netherlands. In Amsterdam, she studied ballet with Sonia Gaskell before moving to London in 1948, continuing her ballet training with Marie Rambert, and then performing as a chorus girl in West End musical theatre productions.

Following minor appearances in several films, Hepburn starred in the 1951 Broadway play Gigi after being spotted by French novelist Colette, on whose work the play was based. She shot to stardom for playing the lead role in Roman Holiday (1953), for which she was the first actress to win an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for a single performance. The same year Hepburn won a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play for her performance in Ondine. She went on to star in a number of successful films, such as Sabrina (1954), The Nun's Story (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Charade (1963), My Fair Lady (1964) and Wait Until Dark (1967), for which she received Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. Hepburn won three BAFTA Awards for Best British Actress in a Leading Role. In recognition of her film career, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from BAFTA, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award and the Special Tony Award. She remains one of the 12 people who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Awards.

Hepburn appeared in fewer films as her life went on, devoting much of her later life to UNICEF. She had contributed to the organization since 1954, then worked in some of the poorest communities of Africa, South America and Asia between 1988 and 1992. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in December 1992. A month later, Hepburn died of cancer at her home in Switzerland at the age of 63.

Friday, December 1, 2017

Baron Colossal Schnoz

Todays post is a study on caricature exaggeration, namely a big nose. I wasn't sure what to call this one so I came up with Baron Colossal Schnoz which I thought was original. By chance, I decided to Google search the term and it led me to the Wikipedia page of American singer, pianist, comedian, and actor Jimmy Durantewho was famous for his big nose among many other things, so I guess it was appropriate. I started off with this British figure who had an arrogant look about him and wanted to push the exaggeration of the face. My original intent for this piece was to exaggerate the nose to an extent that it would make up 50% of the mass of the entire head. I fell short of my goal but I think I hit a good 30% of the mass of the head. This is no small feat. I do know a caricature artist who came pretty darn close in a caricature of Fidel Castro. This great artist is Sebastián Cast and is incredibly talented. You need to check out the amazing work from this young artist. I'll add his Castro image at the end of this post. As I was saying about the exaggeration, I was going for several things here. The exaggeration of the face with the huge nose, the color scheme which is something I've been working on lately as well as the arrogant nature of the subject. I hope I got close in at least one of those areas.

Below is a brilliant caricature of Fidel Castro by the great Sebastián Cast. Click on the image to see a recent artist feature I did on Cast after I received the painted portrait of me. What an honor to be in his portfolio.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

American Singer Songwriter - P!nk

Alecia Beth Moore, known professionally as Pink or P!nk, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. She was signed to her first record label with original R&B girl group Choice in 1995. The label, LaFace Records, only saw potential in Pink, offering her a solo deal. Choice disbanded in 1998. Pink rose as an artist with her debut solo album, Can't Take Me Home (2000). It was certified double-platinum in the United States and spawned two Billboard Hot 100 top-ten hits: "There You Go" and "Most Girls". She gained further recognition with the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack "Lady Marmalade", which gave Pink her first Grammy Award as well as her first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. Pink took more artistic control and pursued a pop rock direction for her second album, Missundaztood (2001). It sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and yielded three US top-ten singles, "Get the Party Started", "Don't Let Me Get Me", and "Just Like a Pill"… Wikipedia

This is a manipulated caricature of American singer-songwriter of P!nk. It was originally requested by a friend of mine on DeviantArt and has been published several times. It was also an entry in an international before and after Photoshop contest. I’ll include the source image at the bottom of post so you can see what I started with. I’ve taken the original and spiced it up a bit as I’ve been doing many of my old pieces while my back is healing. It’s great practice. I’m learning a lot about color and these can be done relatively quickly so I’m not sitting behind my computer for days on one piece. I’m doing my best to cut loose on the color and not hold back. I’ve been playing it safe too long. I still have a long way to go but I have a since of where I’m headed now with my new work. Well, I hope it’s a good direction and you like the work that I’ll be posting in the coming months and starting through 2018. I’m having a lot of fun as I experiment and learn along the way.

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Shawn Corey Carter, known professionally as JAY-Z, is an American rapper and businessman. He is one of the best-selling musicians of all time, having sold more than 100 million records, while receiving 21 Grammy Awards for his music. The man with the million dollar lips. This image was a poster commission from a while back. I have many of these in my store and have had some requests to add a little flare to some of them so I reworked this one and several others. All are available in my store now and several more on the way. I'll be posting more tomorrow.

Monday, November 27, 2017

Snoop Dogg - Increasizzle the Pizzle

Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., known professionally as Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, television personality, and actor. This is another variation on an older commission of Snoop Dogg. I was looking for a Snoop Dogg "izzle" phrase for the title and came up with Increasizzle the Pizzle which if I used the online izzle translator properly means Increase the Pease which is a quote of his. It sounds like something he would say. I'm sure someone will let me know if it's incorrect. I wanted to do something with the izzle "twizzle" which means twisted and rolled but couldn't find a fit. I just had to go with the marijuana background theme and color scheme on this one. A version of this caricature was also featured on martijuana.com a while back and received great reviews. I'm sure he has many fans there. This image and several hundred more are available in my online store for very reasonable prices. In fact, some are free downloads so check them out here. It will be well worth your time. I offer these custom celebrity caricatures many of which can be found right here in my store but I can do the same for you if you wish. They're a lot of fun and make really good gifts. If you're interested in a custom image of yourself or someone, please feel free to contact me for details. I pulled an all nighter last night working on some new material for the second time in 3 days so I'm beat. I think I'll take a little break. I'll be back tomorrow with more new work.